The Slayer Ascension: Cursed and Blessed.-Chapter 60: Final standoff Or Runoff

.

Chapter 60

"Stay down already."

Gazel shot into the air, muscles flexing, shifting, hardening. Power surged through his frame as he grabbed the samurai by the head . With raw demonic strength, he twisted the samurai head full 360, then hurled it down and slammed it into the ground.

Still not enough.

Rage boiled over.

His leg snapped out.

Crunch.

The samurai’s head shattered against the ribs of its own skull. Blue eyes dimmed. The massive body collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut.

Silence followed. Deafening.

Gazel staggered back and collapsed near the group, his eyes already returning to normal. What he had done was dangerous. He had tapped into his demon power without fully recalling it, without crossing that final line. His blue eyes glowed softly as he dragged in heavy breaths.

The silence after the victory pressed down on them as all three fell onto their sides, stealing a fragile moment to recover.

After what felt like forever, Xon stood.

Of the trio, he had taken the most hits, yet somehow he was still in the best shape. He walked over to the samurai’s corpse, studying it with narrowed eyes.

For a moment, he even considered cutting off part of the strange metallic clay. It would probably fetch a good price.

But no. Too risky.

And worse, they were running out of time.

"You two pull yourselves together," Xon said. "There’s no time left. We either leave now, or this entire building collapses on our heads."

His voice was strangely calm.

Those words made Gazel’s eyes snap open. He trusted every word from the eyepatch lunatic. Even Xon’s jokes usually turned out to be anything but jokes.

Gazel pushed himself up.

Blaze tried to stand too, but his legs betrayed him. He wasn’t in any condition to even pretend. He smiled weakly when Gazel offered him a hand.

"You sure are tough," Blaze said, looking at him. Gazel had proven again and again that he was far more durable than Blaze had ever given him credit for.

"Shut your mouth and move," Gazel snapped.

His hair tingled. That was never good.

What Xon said earlier had to be true. They had to be fast.

Blaze grabbed Gazel’s hand and was pulled to his feet.

"Come on," Xon said, already running ahead. "We’ve got one hell of a journey ahead of us."

Blaze and Gazel followed.

Xon wasn’t a fool. Gazel wasn’t just durable. He was healing. Some of the injuries he carried were already gone. That was suspicious.

Even Xon, with a Radiance Core and awakened essence, didn’t heal that fast.

That left only one conclusion.

Whatever Gazel’s Azura was, it had to be self healing.

Deadly.

A wave of envy washed over Xon as he glanced back at the newbie, but he buried it quickly. What didn’t make sense was the overwhelming strength the white haired bastard had shown at the end. That final blow against the samurai was insane.

It made no sense.

But Xon wasn’t going to push it. He had priorities now.

They sprinted through twisting corridors and ancient hallways. The temple trembled again, the fourth time already. Each quake felt worse than the last. It was getting closer to collapsing.

If it came down, they would be buried alive. No doubts about it.

They reached a hallway split in two paths.

Xon stopped and turned to them.

"You two take this one," he said, pointing left. "Run at your best. Sooner or later, you’ll reach your destination."

Gazel frowned. Blaze opened his mouth to speak.

Xon was already backing away, eyes sharp, expression unreadable.

"And don’t stop," he added quietly.

Blaze staggered as he ran.

"Wait... what about you?" he asked weakly.

He was running on fumes. His vision swam, lungs burning, body screaming for rest. He honestly was not sure he would survive if he did not get medical treatment soon.

"Don’t worry about me," Xon said. "I’ve got something to fetch."

He took the other path without waiting, without slowing, without even glancing back.

Gazel almost called out. Almost asked if Xon was being truthful this time. Playing a prank right now would be beyond cruel.

But Xon was already gone.

The next tremor nearly threw them to the ground.

That was their wake up call.

"Move," Gazel growled.

They ran.

The tremors did not stop. The temple groaned, cracked, screamed. Then it began to collapse right on top of them. Massive chunks of stone crashed down around them, smashing floors and walls alike. Dust choked the air.

Gazel forced his already weakened body past its limits, dragging Blaze along, every step a fight against pain and exhaustion.

The run felt endless. Just pure instinct. Survive. Keep moving. Do not stop.

Then something glinted in the distance.

Rotating. Shifting in color. Plain white.

Gazel’s face lit up with relief.

"That’s it," he thought. "The gateway."

Hope flared.

Then reality hit.

It was still hundreds of meters away.

And the temple was falling faster.

Elsewhere in the temple, Xon stepped into a vast open space.

It looked just like the hall where they had fought the metallic clay samurai before.

But there was one very important difference.

There was not one samurai here.

There were hundreds.

The moment Xon crossed the threshold, every single pair of yellow eyes ignited. In eerie unison, they turned their heads toward him.

Xon’s smile faltered for a second.

Maybe he had miscalculated. Maybe he had overestimated himself.

He was certain he could win.

But this would not be easy.

"Before, I couldn’t use my full power without killing those two newbies," Xon muttered. "Not right now though. Things are different."

He reached up and removed the eyepatch covering his left eye.

There was no empty socket.

Instead, a mirror like eye stared back, reflecting the samurai that watched him. Their yellow eyes shimmered within it.

"You wouldn’t mind if I transform, would you?" Xon said calmly.

His body began to shift.

The ground swallowed him whole.

Then it rose again.

Where Xon stood moments ago, a metallic clay samurai emerged. Identical to his opponents. Its body solid, unnatural. The empty eye socket of his transformation glowed blue as he lifted a greataxe into his hand.

Xon smiled.

"You know, gentlemen, I’m here for my prize," he said. "So you’ve got two options. We do this the easy way, or the hard way."

The samurai lunged as one.

Xon sighed. "Hard way it is."

He stepped forward.

And the world exploded.

A deafening boom tore through the chamber, shaking the temple to its core and pushing it one step closer to total collapse.

To be continued.....